Ericsson looks to Belgium to justify 5G

Ericsson and Corda Campus have announced plans to set up a 5G Life Campus in Hasselt, Belgium, which will be used to test new technologies and applications.

The 5G Life Campus will be located at Corda Campus, a technology park, and connected to connected to Ericsson’s R&D centre in Aachen, Germany, where Ericsson’s 5G pilot projects are executed. The campus will act as a test environment for industry players to develop and trial new applications for the 5G world.

“Corda Campus is a high technology campus, where more than 200 innovative companies work on new products and services every day,” said Raf Degens, Director of Corda Campus. “With Ericsson, this 5G Life Campus will provide industries a way to prepare for the future and grow faster.”

“Ericsson and Corda Campus will engage Belgian enterprises to be key players in the development of 5G, helping to speed up industrial digitalization in the country and Europe,” said Saskia Van Uffelen, Country Manager of Ericsson Belgium and Luxembourg. “This 5G Life Campus, part of the 5G for Europe program launched by Ericsson and industries and institutes across Europe, will help contribute to Belgium’s future economic growth and job market.”

The launch of the park is set for the first quarter of 2018, as pressure comes down on vendors to demonstrate the value of 5G. There is no question it will be better than 4G, though operators are seemingly starting to get cold feet as the commercial launch date approaches. Over the next 12 months you should expect more of these test sites to emerge as vendors attempt to pry open operators wallets to spend on network upgrades.